WVEC Action Alert

April 6, 2009

Below (three separate issues):

• Three bad bills now before our House Judiciary committee
• A great bill needs your help!
• Help oppose SB 297 (now in the House Finance Committee)

There are three bad bills now before our House Judiciary committee:  SB 45, SB 461, and SB 753.  We need to stop these bills from passing out of this committee. 

Call and / or e-mail House Judiciary Members regarding these three terrible bills (see contact information below.)  Please ask Chair Carrie Webster (D-Kanawha) and all the members of the committee to vote against passage of these bills.

Here’s what these bills call for:

SB 45 – Allowing DEP Secretary to sign NPDES permits!
SB 461 – Extension for mines to meet selenium water quality standard!
SB 753 – Limiting land use development ordinances!

All three of these bills are detrimental to the environment and to citizens of West Virginia!  Ask these legislators to oppose these bills.

Delegate Carrie Webster (D-Kanawha), House Judiciary Chair:
(304) 340-3252           no e-mail listed           

Delegate Tim Miley, (D-Harrison) Vice Chair
(304) 340-3248           timmiley@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. John Ellem, Minority Chair
(304) 340-3394           ellem@wirefire.com

Del. Patrick Lane, (R-Kanawha) Minority Vice Chair
(304) 340-3275           no e-mail listed

Del. Larry Barker (D-Boone)
(304) 340-3149           no e-mail listed

Del. Bonnie Brown (D-Kanawha)
(304) 340-3106           bbrown1@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Mike Caputo (D-Marion)
(304) 340-3249           no e-mail listed

Del. Michael Ferro (D-Marshall)
(304) 340-3111           mtferro@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Barbara Fleischauer (D-Monongalia)
(304) 340-3169           barbaraf@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Mark Hunt (D-Kanawha)
(304) 340-3392           mhunt@markahunt.com

Del. Tal Hutchins (D-Ohio)
(304) 340-3270           thutch@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Linda Longstreth (D-Marion)
(304) 340-3124           no e-mail listed

Del. Harold Michael (D-Hardy)
(304) 340-3340           no e-mail listed

Del. Clif Moore (D-McDowell)
(304) 340-3189           cmoore@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Alex Shook (D-Monongalia)
(304) 340-3173           ashook@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Sally Susman (D-Raleigh)
(304) 340-3183           ssusman@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Robert Tabb (D-Jefferson)
(304) 340-3274           no e-mail listed

Del. Danny Wells (D-Kanawha)
(304) 340-3287           no e-mail listed

Del. Bill Wooton (D-Raleigh)
(304) 340-3164           wrwooton@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Bill Hamilton (R-Upshur)
(304) 340-3167           bhamilt@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. John Overington (R-Berkeley)
(304) 340-3148           john@overington.com

Del. Robert Schadler (R-Mineral)
(304) 340-3191           rschadler@comcast.net

Del. Patti Schoen (R-Putnam)
(304) 340-3141           pschoen@mail.wvnet.edu

Del. Kelli Sobonya (R-Cabell)
(304) 340-3175           sobonya4wvhouse@aol.com

Return to Index

A great bill needs your help!

A $2,000 state income tax credit for homeowners installing solar energy systems to generate electricity, heat or cool a structure or to provide hot water could be nearing passage!

The final hurdle for House Bill 2535, which also provides for net metering so the homeowner can sell excess electricity to the power company, is Senate Finance Committee.

Calls and emails are needed to the office of Senator Walt Helmick (D-Pocahontas), Chair of Senate Finance, asking him to place House Bill 2535 on the agenda and urging passage. This bill, sponsored by Delegate Bill Wooton (D-Raleigh) passed overwhelmingly in the House of Delegates.

Please contact Senator Helmick as soon as possible and let him know this is a great bill! There is no fiscal impact to the state budget from this bill and it is a step towards energy independence for West Virginia homeowners!

Here’s how to reach him:

Phone: (304) 799-7172
Email walt.helmick@wvsenate.gov

Return to Index

SB 297 is now in the House Finance Committee.  We need your help!  Ask the House Finance Committee members to oppose this bill as written.

Please contact the members of House Judiciary (contact information below) and ask them to oppose SB 297 as written.  SB 297 creates a category of “alternative energy” which is used to define “clean coal” technologies, along with burning tires, and now includes natural gas and nuclear generation of power!

Although the bill includes “renewable energy” sources, the presence of the category of “alternative” is a red flag that the state is not ready to deal with the true cost of coal!

SB 297 undermines the goals and justification for such a bill in the first place – to reduce carbon dioxide emissions – and it creates a system that puts West Virginia completely out of step with other states in the country.

Thirty-three (33) states now have “real” renewable portfolio standards – ask our legislators why West Virginia is not among them.

This is a huge missed opportunity for the new renewable energy economy rising all around us!

For more details, please refer to the  “Under the Dome” article by Don Garvin in the April 3, 2009 edition of WVEC’s Legislative Update. 

WVEC website: www.wvecouncil.org

House Finance Committee:

Harry Keith White, (D-Mingo), Chair
(304) 340-3230           no e-mail listed

Thomas Campbell (D-Greenbrier), Vice-Chair
(304) 340-3280           no e-mail listed

William Anderson (R-Wood), Minority Chair
(304) 340-3168           no e-mail listed

Mitch Carmichael (R-Jackson), Minority Vice-Chair
(304) 340-3115           no e-mail listed

Kevin Craig (D-Cabell)
(304) 340-3350           kjcraigwv@aol.com

John Doyle (D-Jefferson)
(304) 340-3184           no e-mail listed

Jeff Eldridge (D-Lincoln)
(304) 340-3174           jeffeldridge96@yahoo.com

Nancy Guthrie (D-Kanawha)
(304) 340-3156           nguthrie@mail.wvnet.edu

Richard Iaquinta (D-Harrison)
(304) 340-3161           iaquinta@mail.wvnet.edu

Orphy Klempa (D-Ohio)
(304) 340-3378           oklempa@mail.wvnet.net

Steven Kominar (D-Mingo)
(304) 340-3186           kominar@verizon.net

Virginia Mahan (D-Summers)
(304) 340-3102           vmahan@mail.wvnet.edu

Tim Manchin (D-Marion)
(304) 340-3166           tmanchin@manchin-aloi.com

Charlene Marshall (D-Monongalia)
(304) 340-3900           chmarsh@mail.wvnet.edu

Don Perdue (D-Wayne)
(304) 340-3269           dperdue@mail.wvnet.edu

Linda Phillips (D-Wyoming)
(304) 340-3164           lgphill@mail.wvnet.edu

Mary M. Poling (D-Barbour)
(304) 340-3265           no e-mail listed

Doug Reynolds (D-Wayne)
(304) 340-3199           delegatedoug@yahoo.com

Sharon Spencer (D-Kanawha)
(304) 340-3218           delspencer@aol.com

Scott Varner (D-Marshall)
(304) 340-3187           no e-mail listed

Bob Ashley (R-Roane)
(304) 340-3185           bashley@mail.wvnet.edu

Craig Blair (R-Berkeley)
(304) 340-3122           craig@delegatecraigblair.com

Larry Border (R-Wood)
(304) 340-3136           bordel@mail.wvnet.edu

Allen Evans (R-Grant)
(304) 340-3399           no e-mail listed

Ron Walters (R-Kanawha)
(304) 340-3194           ronwalte@mail.wvnet.edu

Return to Index